


Communication is Key

by dharmageek



Category: Discworld, Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: F/M, Insecurity, Jumping to Conclusions, Lack of Communication, Marriage, Rumors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 05:08:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8131592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dharmageek/pseuds/dharmageek
Summary: “The dots hung in the air, the ghosts of words unsaid. Little things, thought Vimes. That’s how a war starts.” - Jingo
Like all couples Sam and Sybil Vimes sometimes have to work on their communication skills. Set after Jingo and companion story to chapter 12 of Right of First Refusal.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Acknowledgement: This all belongs to Terry Pratchett. I am just borrowing Sam and Sybil for a quick play date. Oops…not that kind of story. 
> 
> This story falls into the category of the good ‘ship Sybil Ramkin/Sam Vimes. If this isn’t your ship, please disembark now.

Sam Vimes stopped dead in front of the bedroom door. He didn’t think Sybil capable of being unfaithful, but as he stood outside their room, he heard it. The gentle secret song of sweet little noises that up until this point were his alone. It was like a dagger in his heart.

It served him right he supposed. He hadn’t been an attentive husband. He tried to be home most nights. Well, he tried to have dinner with Sybil most nights. He tried to at least see her most nights, although some nights that meant a quick peck on the cheek before falling asleep. It wasn't as if he didn't want to see her. Not that he would ever admit it, but being around her made him happy. The disc didn't seem so awful when she was around.

She saw the good in people and in the City, which made him take his duty that much more seriously. He wanted to make the City better because she believed it was a good place. Unfortunately, that meant that he was always working at making the City safer. There always seemed to be something.

There had been the business in Klatch and then on the walk home from the palace he had been pulled back to the Yard because of a jewel heist. The next day there was a kidnapping, and then there was a murder that threatened to go political. He had slept the last three nights at his desk at Pseudopolis Yard.

Today had been the first time he had seen his wife in four days. Sybil had been waiting outside the Patrician’s office. He didn’t know what to think. Of course, he knew about their history; Sybil had been forthcoming with all the facts. She had known the man for over 30 years. He had one of her first real kisses but he wasn’t interested and she moved on. They were friends and it was all perfectly innocent. Well, Sybil might have been perfectly innocent, but he didn’t trust Vetinari any further than Nobby could throw him.

His mind then turned to darker places and images of her in Vetinari’s arms, her writhing under that bastard and whispering his name. Sam vibrated with righteous anger. The chain holding the beast within him snapped. “No one touches my wife.” He growled and threw open the door.

The door slammed against the wall and bounced. “Get your hands off my wife, you bastard!” he bellowed.

Sybil screamed and pulled the covers over herself. “Sam! What’s going on?!”

“Where is he?” He yelled and unsheathed his sword.

“What?!” Sybil exclaimed trying to get her bearings.

“I heard you, Sybil. Now where is he?” Sam continued, dropping to the floor to look under the bed. He jumped up and began opening and slamming the doors to the dressing rooms.

“No one is here! Have you gone mad?!” Sybil screamed, the covers slipping down revealing her breasts.

“What is all of this then?” Sam stopped and motioned towards her with the sword.

Sybil self-consciously pulled the sheet back up. She colored slightly and looked down. “I was just taking care of things.” She mumbled.

“What?!” Sam was thrown off by the comment. _It had to be a ruse. Ladies didn’t do that, did they?_

Sybil was getting flustered now. “I was taking things in hand so to say.”

Sam opened his mouth to speak but stopped. All of a sudden his mouth felt like it was filled with cotton. “You were?”

“Yes, Sam. I was.” She said calmly.

“Oh!” He looked at her on the bed. She was naked as the day she was born save for the necklace Sam had given her. Her hair was mussed and her eyes were dark. “So you were?” He asked his voice cracking ever so slightly.

She nodded. “Yes, Sam”

“Why?” He asked sounding more confused than angry.

Sybil sighed. “We haven’t been intimate for some time.”

“It hasn’t been that long!” He snapped defensively.

“Two months, Sam.” She said crisply.

He paused to do the math in head. _Had it really been two months?_ “Two months?” He said more gently but still far too loud for a polite conversation.

“I decided that it would be easier to take care of it myself.” She said trying to maintain her calm.

“You could have just asked.” He said feebly.

She looked up at him and gave him a wane smile.“I hardly ever see you.”

“I don’t mean to be gone so much. I just...” He tried.

“I know, Sam.” She said gently.

He looked down at his boots and berated himself. _He didn’t deserve her. Maybe it would just be better if he walked away now. It was only a matter of time before she figured out he wasn't worth it._ “You love him don’t you?” He asked despondently.

"What are you talking about, Sam?" She replied completely baffled by the question.

Sam glowered at her. "The Patrician. You love him, don't you?"

Sybil looked as if she had been slapped. “Yes, but not like I love you. I love him as a friend, as a brother.”

“Funny, I am pretty sure kissing your brother is frowned upon.” He grumbled.

“I kissed Havelock once over 20 years ago.” She snapped. “Are you still worked up over women you kissed 20 years ago?”

“No! But I wasn’t bound to any of them with a marriage contract.” He barked.

“That he ignored for almost 30 years.” She fired back. “Anyway, according to half the city, you and Havelock are… “ She stopped and pulled the sheet around her tighter. “I would rather not talk about this Sam.”

“What are we?!” He growled.

Sybil just looked down at her hands as tears started welling up in her eyes. “Lovers.” She said in a barely audible whisper.

The fire fueling his anger dropped away like a gallows trap door. He stared at his wife for a moment. “You don’t believe that do you?” He moved to stand next to her. “Sybil?”

“It would be within your rights. Wives are supposed to support their husbands in their decisions. If you are, I would just rather not know.” She said shakily.

Sam patted her shoulder, and she pulled away. Sam sighed and started removing his armor. When he was down to his jerkin and britches, he sat on the bed. He stared at her. “And after that, you would still support me?”

“Yes, lots of gentlemen love their wives and have second lives on the side. Some wives even like it, the first Mrs. Lavish at the bank became best friends with her husband’s mistress.” She looked down again. "I love you, and I know I am just being selfish."

He took her hand and kissed it. “I am not too keen on being shared.” He drew a weak smile from her and offered her his handkerchief. “I know it’s done. I have known people that have had different arrangements, and that’s all fine and good. I even had a couple of offers back in my day.” He laughed nervously.

Sam smiled at her for a moment when something dawned on him, and he started laughing in earnest. At first, it was a dry chuckle and then it build to a manic guffaw. “Vetinari?!”

Sybil just stared at him, and he laughed harder. “Vetinari and me?”

“Please take this seriously.” She said quietly.

“Sorry, dear. It’s just…the predatory flamingo? Ye Gods!” He was laughing so hard he was crying.

“Sam, really?” She admonished slightly.

He stopped laughing and caught his breath. “If I went that way...” He shook his head. “Hell. If I went that way, I probably wouldn’t be in the city. I would have left with Iffy, almost 30 years ago.”

“What?” Sybil asked slightly confused.

“My best mate growing up was Iffy Scurrick. A year after Sarge died, we got drunk one night and he kissed me. He asked me to go with him to Sto Lat to be a guard.” He said gently.

“And?” She asked urging him to continue.

“Well, I didn’t go now did I?” He laughed before getting quiet. “And it broke my heart, he was my best mate and I loved him like a brother.” He paused and there was a sadness in his eyes. “He said he was in love with me. I just couldn’t love him back. Not how he wanted anyway.” He looked up at Sybil and gave her a weak smile. “He’s doing well, got a partner and good post. His brother Kev was in the Watch for a bit until he turned down the wrong alley. His wife Sara is being helped by the Widows and Orphans Fund now. She gives me updates on Iffy sometimes.“

He looked at conspiratorially at her for a moment. “Anyway, if I was going to go that way, I would try to chat up Carrot.” He said with a wink. 

Sybil gave Sam a concerned look.

“Don't worry, love. The lad is like a son to me.” He paused thoughtfully for a moment before continuing. “Not to mention, Angua would kill me.” 

Sybil giggled.

He picked up her hand again and placed it over his heart. “I’ve never been the sort to want more than one woman, and you’re…you’re.” He could feel his ears turning red. Sam looked down as he couldn’t find the words to express how much she meant to him. How through some feat of magic he would love her with all his heart and then the next day somehow love her a little bit more than the last. “If I wanted more than you, I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me. Sometimes, I worry that I’m not enough for you.”

“Oh, Sam.” She replied sweetly and he smiled.

He moved an errant curl behind her ear. "I am quite content with what we have. It may be simple, but it doesn't make it any less." She opened her mouth and he quieted her with a kiss.

He broke the kiss. "Better?"

She nodded and made room on the bed. He nestled into the curve of her body and let out a contented sigh. He pulled her arm over him and snuggled into her. “Sybil? While we are clearing out the cobwebs, there aren’t any women I should be worried about?”

She chuckled. “If there were, I would be living at the seaside in Quirm.” He let out a bark of laughter and squeezed her arm.

She nuzzled his hair, and Sam smiled. “Sybil?” He inquired.

“Yes, Sam.” She replied, her hand absentmindedly rubbing circles on his chest.

“When you were…what name were you saying?” He asked as casually as he could.

“Yours” She kissed behind his ear.

“So how often do you?” He smiled, suddenly feeling a bit cocky.

“Sam” Sybil playfully admonished gently batting his arm.

Sam’s ears started to turn pink. “I was just wondering.”

“If we haven't been intimate, once or twice a week. Do you?” She said shyly.

“Yes,” he replied awkwardly.

She stopped kissing his neck.

“It’s not like that. There is just so much to do and I thought you..." He searched for the words. "You’re a Lady, Sybil. I wasn’t going to force myself on you. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I was being silly I suppose. Lady’s aren’t meant to like …” Sybil said quietly, and she felt Sam stiffen in her arms. “I tried to hint at it. I was going to just flat out ask when we had started our night in before you left for Klatch.” He relaxed and she resumed rubbing his chest. “I really do like when you...when we…” She blushed. “I would like to more often.”

“I think that can be arranged.” Sam smiled and blew out the candles on the bedside table.

**Author's Note:**

> The working titles for this story included “No one is shagging Vetinari*”, “Did you fuck my wife? I am your wife. I know but did you fuck her? Yes, Sam. I am your wife and I fucked her.**”, and “Damn it, Vimes! Go home and ask your wife if she’d like a cup of coffee. She really likes espresso***, we have all read Snuff.” Damn, I think I just spawned another dozen plot bunnies. Also please pardon all the Klatchian. 
> 
> Thank you for reading. As always comments, suggestions, and plot bunnies are appreciated. If you find any stray plot bunnies lying around you want to run with please do, they need the exercise. 
> 
> *This title was accompanied by a sad Vetinari chibi holding Wuffles.  
> **Stolen directly from Eddie Izzard. If you do not know who Eddie Izzard is…Damn, I am too old to be writing fanfiction. Maybe I should look into getting some swamp dragons?  
> ***Because he is small, strong and bitter. For the record per Raising Steam, Sam likes his coffee rich and extra sweet.  
> 


End file.
